Elsa McAlonan's beauty upgrades: Thick, lustrous lashes can widen eyes and help to define the face

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Thick, lustrous lashes can widen eyes and help to define the face. The newest mascaras are so effective they could even make false lashes completely redundant.

Top of the crop is the new False Lash X-Fiber Mascara from L’Oreal (£10.99, Boots). It promises to give lashes more volume with tiny fibres that adhere to your own lashes to build density and length.

Thick, lustrous lashes can widen eyes and help to define the face. The newest mascaras are so effective they could even make false lashes completely redundant 

Or try YSL Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils (£25, yslbeauty.co.uk), which has a new, wider than usual brush to separate and coat lashes for a false-lash look.

And the prettiest new launch is from Guerlain — La Petite Robe Noire Mascara (£22.50, House of Fraser). It has a brush that works even on sparse lashes to add volume and length — ideal for those with short lashes.

False Lash X-Fiber Mascara from L’Oreal, YSL Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils and La Petite Robe Noire Mascara

Aldi has another luxury skincare launch that looks like it might cause mayhem in the supermarket aisles. 

The new Lacura Vitacell range is a collection of three products — all under £7 — including a face cream, serum and eye cream. They have been specifically formulated to work on signs of ageing.

Ingredients include stem cells from sea plants that help to improve the skin’s structure and elasticity.

The new Lacura Vitacell range is a collection of three products — all under £7 — including a face cream, serum and eye cream

The products feel luxurious and indulgent, despite their price tag.

All available in stores and at aldi.co.uk from February 9, until stocks run out.

At the National Television Awards held last week, Holly Willoughby looked fabulous in a pink floor-length gown, with co-ordinating pink tones in her make-up.

Her make-up artist Patsy O’Neill used Benefit’s High Brow Glow Brow pencil (£17.50) along her brow bone to brighten and illuminate her face.

At the National Television Awards held last week, Holly Willoughby looked fabulous in a pink floor-length gown, with co-ordinating pink tones in her make-up

It also slightly lifts the brow, which works brilliantly with a glamorous smoky eye like Holly’s to widen the eyes for a youthful look.

If you have ever wished your hair would grow faster, you are not alone. 

Last year, the question: ‘How to make hair grow more quickly’ was searched 52,800 times on Google.

Session stylist Neil Moodie recommends making time to use a deep conditioning treatment or mask at least once a week.

‘Leaving it on so it penetrates the hair is vital,’ he says. ‘Rinsing it straight off has no benefit as the hair has no time to draw out the ingredients it needs.

Try Viviscal’s new Gorgeous Growth Densifying Conditioner (£9.99, Marks & Spencer), which moisturises and conditions hair, leaving it looking and feeling fuller. 

Or for an overnight treatment, try Michael Van Clarke’s 3 More Inches conditioner (£18, 3moreinches.co.uk) — which you apply generously.

The optimum time for skin to absorb ingredients is when we sleep, and the new Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Recovery Mask-In-Oil, (£55, esteelauder.co.uk) is a lightweight night-time mask that helps protect skin and seal in the benefits of a repair serum. Designed as the last step in your skincare routine. 

Nars Sheer Pop Multiple 

Nars Sheer Pop Multiple (£29, nars cosmetics.co.uk)

This has a buildable formula and delivers a sheer colour with a powder soft finish.

For natural-looking results, blend it in with your fingers.

 

£29  Shop

Sisley phyto-blush twist 

Sisley phyto-blush twist (£43, sisley-paris.co.uk)

The cream- to-powder formula feels hydrating on the skin. Containing camelia and shea oils it has a rounded tip for easy application, even without a mirror.

 

£43  Shop

Trish Mcevoy Beauty Booster Lip & Cheek 

Trish Mcevoy Beauty Booster Lip & Cheek (£24, Liberty)

Kind to mature skin, this super-smooth, silky blusher glides on. It can also double up as a lip colour.

 

£24  Shop

Scent isn’t always about spraying perfume or applying body lotion. A perfumed bath is the ultimate indulgent treat and the right fragrance product can linger on the skin all day.

Acqua di Parma Peonia Nobile Luxurious Bath Gel (£36, Harrods and nationwide from February 1) captures the delicate, warming scent of the peony flower, with the fragrance of the rarest deep ruby-red variety.

The latest addition to the Peonia Nobile collection, the bath gel has the calming properties of Pro Vitamin B5 as well as the antioxidant powers of the peony. The top notes of peony are combined with spicy black pepper, raspberry and delicate Turkish rose. 

Acqua di Parma Peonia Nobile Luxurious Bath Gel captures the delicate, warming scent of the peony flower, with the fragrance of the rarest deep ruby-red variety